Final Sri Lanka ODI Crucial For India's Champions Trophy Prep, Says Sundar

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Washington Sundar sees India's third and final ODI against Sri Lanka as a chance to gear up for next year's Champions Trophy. India faces the risk of their first ODI series loss to Sri Lanka in 27 years after a 32-run defeat in the second Test at R. Premadasa Stadium.

Rohit Sharma led India's batting with 64 runs from 44 balls, but Sri Lanka's Jeffery Vandersay stole the show, taking 6-33. "It is an opportunity for us to go out there and put our hands up and win those critical situations," Sundar said.

Sundar emphasised the importance of learning from this series to prepare for upcoming big tournaments. "Obviously with the big tournaments coming up, we will be in similar situations and it will be important to find ways as to what we can do to win those critical situations especially in similar conditions against quality spin attack," he stated.

Despite the recent struggles against Sri Lanka's spinners, Sundar defended India's batters. "We are quality players of spin. We've always played in these kinds of wickets, even at home, in Test matches, and in different formats," he noted.

The defeat marked Gautam Gambhir's first loss as India's new head coach after a successful 3-0 T20I series win against Sri Lanka in July. Sundar mentioned that the team has been trying to adapt to Gambhir's new tactics. "There has been a lot of input from him," Sundar said.

Sundar acknowledged that implementing these new strategies would take time but remained optimistic about their effectiveness. "That is one of the reasons we came out here today to practice and try and find a way and try and do those small little changes tactically," he added.

Sundar also highlighted the team's resilience in challenging conditions. "Everyone knows it's quite a challenging wicket. Obviously, the Indian team has always put its hands up, especially when the challenge arises," he remarked.

He expressed confidence in India's ability to overcome obstacles both with bat and ball. "And that's when we've been very good, both with bat and ball, and we've come out flying colours out of the challenging situations," Sundar concluded.

"We are quality players of spin, matter of finding a way," Sundar reiterated, stressing that adapting individually is key for each player.

The Indian team aims to take lessons from their performances so far and apply them effectively in future games. "I think whatever we have done in this series so far, we will take that as a learning," Sundar said.

The focus remains on improving all aspects of their game ahead of tomorrow's match. "Obviously try and move ahead and win the game tomorrow in all aspects of the game," Sundar affirmed.